PC Virus Alert: DNSChanger & the FBI

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There has been some discussion in the media in recent months regarding an online advertising scam initiated by international hackers. The piece of code that resides on infected PCs is known as DNSChanger. Essentially, infected PCs open their browser to surf the web and wind up getting rerouted through the hacker’s servers before getting to the desired destination. This particular cyber criminal enterprise has been broken up by the FBI and other authorities. However, the FBI realized that if they shutdown the criminal’s servers any infected PCs would no longer be able to access the internet until the malware was removed. So, they took a highly unusual action by setting up substitute servers to allow users around the world time to repair their PCs. These substitute servers will be taken down on July 9, 2012. Therefore, after July 9, infected PCs will not be able to access the internet.

The FBI is encouraging people to go to a web site that is run by their security partner, dcwg.org. This web site has an easy way to find out if your PC is infected with the DNSChanger. If you have any interest in this issue in regards to your home PC, then you may want to visit that web site for further details.